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The gate has returned to the stairs!Our little Gates crawled up to the fourth stair with Daddy keeping watch earlier today, and then this evening climbed about halfway up without pause.She was very excited to see her Mama and brother up at the top grinning. It was entertainment for the whole family.

For months I tried to interest Lucy in our almost-new walker, handed down by my cousins Sarah and Faith Perito. She would have nothing to do with the thing. The past two days I have come down into the room to find the little Turnip sitting in the collasped walker, happily entertaining herself.Bowden walked around in this bag (which normally holds the tunnel) for about twenty minutes and Did Not want me to take a picture. I eventually convinced him that certain Grandmas wanted to see him in the bag, and he reluctantly stood still.

Rosie is in town, for three weeks, so the chilluns and I went down to the Valley to visit with her last week. Lucy and Bowden had some fun at the play area in the mall. It is unfortunate that the woman behind Bowden was taking care of some nasal hygiene at the moment I shot Bowden in the canoe, but I doubt anyone who sees this will know her.The poor lady's son was in love with Lucy. He hugged her and squeezed her so that her concerned mama had to take her away from the fun stairs. She can't help it. She's Spooney-Love.

My little girl is already exhibiting some maternal instincts.Josh and I watched with sustained amusement as Lucy "played" with Bowden's baby doll. She would lay it down on the changing pad, then pick it up and hold it to her chest, then lay it down again, and then pick it up and kiss it, and hug it.She did it again, later in the evening, and again this morning. I am a believer in nurture as opposed to nature, but Bowden is still not as gentle or loving as Lucy has been with his doll.The doll, by the way, was purchased for Bowden just before Lucy was born, to teach Bowden how to treat a baby. He loves it enough- he named it "Lucy" and will put it down for naps in various places in the house.Lucy is much more involved with her namesake, and it is funny to see a ten-month-old caring for a baby. (She has seen me take care of Bowden, which he hadn't seen until Lucy. Nurture wins!)

I am suffering from post-parting blues.Lisa left Saturday night, and Job left last night, after all of the campers and staff went down the hill. We went from hectic to snail's pace in an hour and a half. Our copious amounts of company have left, and I am wishing that we had someone to play with now that we have time to play.Bowden and Lucy loved the visitors. When it came time for Job to go, all Bowden could say was, "Not yet!"After Job had left, Bowden grabbed an empty suitcase and asked, "Is it time to pack up? To go to Grandma Tate's with Uncle Job?"We miss you, Uncle Job. I'm glad you finally got to meet Lucy Gates, and I know Bowden will be talking about you for months.

Uncle Job gave Bowden an inflatable airplane.Josh and Lucy, Bowden and me, Cassie Yates, and Lisa, with Job taking the picture.

Bowden looks at life differently than we do. His green dinosaur boots are pretty neat, but that's because they are cowboy boots. He picks up the hose outside and tells me he is a fireman, his current "when-I-grow-up" job. He tells me, "Firemen do not use watering cans. We use hoses."

Here is what he sees...

delicious water

a beautiful, shiny bed and room for mommy too! a lumberjack, and tree that needs chopping down

We lead a charmed life.We have little money, but a huge house, and no gas, electric, or even cable bills. No backyard, but a whole campground to run around in. We can't eat out much, but we get (good) camp food every weekend. This is the result of following the Lord's will for our lives- he brought us to a place of dependence, and all of our needs and wants are more than met.Praise the Lord!

Not only do we have a camp to play in, but a wonderful play yard that Bowden calls the "play area." We go on walks nearly every day and Bowden plays on the swings. With the recent rains, that fall so seldomly, the grounds are fresher, a little greener, and spring, spring , spring is here! I realized while pushing Lucy in the baby swing that the view from the playground out over the gully is better than many people see on an average day.Bowden was a "builder" in his goggles, and then he was me, and the "glasses" helped him to see better. Lucy was jolly, and has …

I don't really like much about Halloween. I do like costumes, though, and I put Lucy in this hand-me-down lion outfit that actually roars when you push the nose, and Bowden wanted to join in and wear his bear costume-although his costume is a little bit like a bear-eating-a-boy costume.

Bowden wore the lion outfit his first Easter- the lion of Judah? He went naked for his first Hallloween.

Many, many, many people commented on how the chirruns were dressed as we walked about town. My husband noted, "Apparently we are flirting with the world."

I am attempting to ready my son for the joys of Sunday school, with it's required sitting and paying attention. He is tired of the nursery, which is chaos with babies, and needs more stimulation, but he lacks two things- the first being potty training. We're working on it.The second is an ability to stay sitting for longer periods of time, and I think this is mostly because he just hasn't had the practice. We make him stay in his chair until excused at mealtimes, but even then he tends to slide out of his seat, under the table, and ends up in the time-out chair.On Mondays at 10:30 our library has a kid's reading time for preschoolers, and I have been taking Bowden to this little reading party for practice. He gets antsy- but at the end of this weeks time, they had the kids pretend to be sunflowers. Bowden was twisted with a foot extended as root, and an arm outstrecthed as the stalk, but he soon collasped into a dud seed, only to jump up as a full-grown sunflower.…